


A Haunted House is NOT the Place for a First Date

by raspbearry



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, The Great Fodlan Bake Off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspbearry/pseuds/raspbearry
Summary: I participated in the Great Fodlan Bake Off! The themes were Exploration, Secret, Ambition, Devotion and (bonus) Gossip.So join Annette, Mercedes and the whole Blue Lion gang as they go into a haunted house... hopefully they all make it out ;D
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Mercedes von Martritz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	A Haunted House is NOT the Place for a First Date

Annette slowly slid her test into a folder so she couldn’t look at it anymore. Class was over, people were leaving, but Annette didn’t move from the desk as her hands tightened around her pencil. That score… how could she have let herself fall so behind? What on earth had she been doing? She had to do better, she had to, she _had_ to! Ever since she had entered high school, she’d worked harder, and harder, and harder to get the top grades. Pushing herself as hard as she could. How was she slipping now?

“I heard a kid vanished in there again.”

“Whaaaat, seriously? You’re just making it up.”

“No, I’m completely serious! Some kid a grade below us went in there and never came out, just like the year before… and the year before that… honestly! I heard it from one of his friends.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that, people call it ‘the curse of Rhea’ or something, right?”

“You can’t seriously believe this nonsense, Dimitri?”

“Why not? There’s records of a suspicious murder there.”

Annette shuddered and peeked over at her friends. Ingrid was shaking her head in disbelief at Sylvain and Dimitri. Sylvain leaned over Ingrid’s desk, wiggling his fingers at her.

“See? It’s a reeeeeeeal haunted house,” he said, trying to sound spooky as Ingrid slapped his hands away. 

“Unbelievable,” Felix added, shoving away from his desk, backpack in hand. “What are you idiots gossiping about now?”

“Oh, you of little faith, this is not gossip, but the pure truth,” Sylvain said, flashing a fox grin at Felix. 

“Sylvain, you’re not serious… right?” Ashe asked, his face paler than usual as he stood up from the desk behind Annette. Dedue walked up behind him and reassuringly brushed a hand through Ashe’s hair.

“But he is!”

Annette squeaked as Mercedes slammed her hands on Annette’s desk. 

“Mercedes, not you too!” Ingrid moaned.

“They say that a woman named Rhea lived in that house with her mother, but one day her mother was murdered by an intruder,” Mercedes started, her eyes gleaming. “Rhea killed the intruder, but that couldn’t bring her mother back.”

Everyone was silent as Mercedes paused dramatically. It had been ages since Annette heard Mercie tell a ghost story, and it was… honestly, still terrifying every time. 

“Rhea spent her days trying to find a way to bring her mother back to life. She prayed and prayed, but was never answered. She soon turned to the dark, luring children into the home so she could sacrifice them to bring her mother back. But… it never worked,” Mercedes said, her hands clutched to her heart. “Even now, Rhea’s ghost wanders the house, searching for a way to bring back her mother.”

Her last words lingered in the air, making Annette shiver. 

“Mercie, shouldn’t you wait until we’re around a campfire before you start this?” Annette said, trying to joke. 

“Y-yeah, not like we’re going to be scared by that in broad daylight,” Ashe said, obviously scared in broad daylight.

“Sounds like we have some nonbelievers,” Sylvain said, as he got up and threw a hand around Mercedes’ shoulders, leaning in. “I think we need to prove how real this curse is to them.”

“Are you seriously suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Felix said, rolling his eyes.

“What, is big bad Felix scared to go into the spooky house?” Sylvain teased.

“Obviously not!” Felix yelped, completely falling for the bait. Annette had a horrible feeling about what they were all going to be doing tonight.

“It does sound interesting…” Dimitri said, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

“Guys, you can not go breaking into houses,” Ingrid said, jumping to her feet.

“Don’t you mean, you guys _should_ go breaking into houses,” Sylvain corrected, as Ingrid launched into a full tirade. Annette reached for her bag, maybe if she was quiet enough, she could get out of here before they dragged her into this. There were already a million reasons why she didn’t want to go, but after that test score she had to start studying harder than ever. She didn’t have any time to waste and… she also really, really, really, really, didn’t want to go.

Annette was halfway out of her chair, when a hand touched her shoulder. She jumped, almost falling as she turned to see Mercedes’ smiling face. 

“Now, Annie, you weren’t trying to run away, were you?”

How could someone look so angelic and be such a demon?

“I-I have to study…” Annette started lamely, looking towards the classroom door.

“You know, there’s a secret about the cursed Rhea house,” Mercedes said as she leaned in to whisper to Annette. She didn’t really need to bother as the others were in a full blown fight now, but Annette still moved closer to listen, Mercedes’ soft brown hair brushing against Annette’s face. “They say that at the highest room in the house, there’s a holy item there that Rhea tried to use to revive her mother. It didn’t work, but supposedly it can grant anything else besides life.”

Mercedes looked into Annette’s eyes, waiting. A wish? Was Mercie really offering some sort of magic wish if Annette went into the horrifying cursed house? The test score loomed in Annette’s mind. What if this was just the beginning of her bad grades? What if she never got good enough grades to get into Garreg Mach? Then she would never… find out if her father was there...

“Anything other than reviving the dead?” Annette asked, feeling her resolve crumble.

Mercedes' chubby angel face smiled, “Probably!”

\-------------------------------

Annette looked up at the house and wondered if it was too late to run back home. It stood on the outskirts of their town, looming at four floors. The houses beside it seemed as if they were trying to edge as far away from it as they could. The siding had been white at some point, but was now a dirty grey, but the roof probably still looked as black as it did when it was first built. It was so typically… haunted-looking. Boarded up windows, broken glass, overgrown yard trying to burst out of the wooden fence. Annette was surprised this place hadn’t been filmed or something, you wouldn’t need to change anything about it. There was not even normal graffiti like spray paint. No, of course not, someone had to go the extra mile and carve the words “witch” and “cursed” and… were those some crosses? And something that almost looked like… a dragon? Sure, why not.

“It looks… different in the dark,” Ashe said in almost a whisper. All of them were there: Mercedes, Sylvain, Dimitri, Felix, Ashe, Dedue, and even Ingrid. Annette wasn’t exactly sure how the fight ended with Ingrid actually coming with them. She stood at the front of the group, glaring at all of them with her arms crossed. Maybe Ingrid was going to be the designated babysitter. 

“It’s just been abandoned for awhile,” Dedue said, his calming voice and logic made both Annette and Ashe take a step towards him. 

“Abandoned and full of ghosts!” Sylvain hooted, draping himself over Felix. Annette was a bit surprised to see that Felix didn’t immediately shove him off.

“I thought you said it was just the one ghost?” Felix said, his eyes locked on the house.

“Don’t forget about all the other souls who lost their lives there,” Mercedes added, her singsong voice somehow not ruining the terrifying thing she just said.

“Mercie! It’s already bad enough _being_ here without you making it worse!” Annette said as she rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Mercedes just turned and winked at her. Annette couldn’t help but relax a bit with Mercedes beside her. She could almost pretend that they were going to do something actually _fun_ if it weren’t for their normally cute outfits replaced by worn and torn clothes and dirty sneakers. Somehow Mercedes still looked good with her dark skirt brushing past her knees and big blue sweater. Annette wished for a second that she had put something better on than jeans and her old yellow hoodie. Well, she did put blue ribbons in her hair but-- ugh! She quickly slapped her hands to her cheeks. Now was not the time for this! What was she even doing here? She should have stayed home to study, not go looking for some sort of item that would grant her wish. She should have--

“Do you see that in the window?”

All of them whipped around to see what Dimitri was talking about. Annette’s eyes darted back and forth, barely catching a flutter of white against a window. They all stood in silence, waiting for another glimpse.

“T-that had to be just a curtain,” Ingrid said, breaking the silence as her eyes shifted between the group and the house.

“So, the curtain just moved on it’s own with no wind?” Felix countered, his eyes were sharp. Annette almost wondered if he was enjoying this in a weird way.

“Only one way to find out,” Sylvain said as he flipped on a flashlight and pointed it dramatically at the fence where three boards had been broken. Felix started forward first with Sylvain quickly following. Annette caught Dimitri staring thoughtfully at the window before he followed as well. They all quickly went through the busted fence, leaving Annette staring into it. She could hear the others crashing through the vines and shrubs, but she already couldn’t see Sylvain’s light. Annette reached into her purse, pulling out her own flashlight. Always best to be prepared. 

A light touch brushed against Annette’s back, making her jump and almost drop the flashlight.

“It’s okay, Annie,” Mercedes said from behind. Annette’s shoulders dropped with relief as she realized it was just Mercedes touching her back. “I’ll be sticking by your side the whole way through!”

“Y-yeah, yeah okay, thanks,” Annette fumbled, trying to smile as she turned on her flashlight. 

“I’ll hold right onto your sweater, so you know I’m here,” Mercedes said. Her hand pulling on the back of Annette’s hoodie was pretty reassuring. Annette took a deep breath and plunged in after the others. 

Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to get through the brush since six other people already trampled through. She couldn’t even see the house; it had almost formed a plant tunnel. She still didn’t look up to try and instead kept her eyes on the ground so she wouldn’t trip. The constant pressure on Annette’s back pressed her forward. 

Suddenly the dense grass turned to stone and the house opened up before them. 

The fence and brush had been hiding a wrap around porch and a broken stone path. Somehow the dragon that was slashed into the house’s walls reached all the way down into the porch, its tail twisting over the door frame. The others were already on the porch, dodging holes beneath their feet and peeking in windows. Annette and Mercedes walked up, the wood creaking harshly.

“Front door’s locked but this window is completely broken and cleared out,” Felix said, his head popping out from around the corner. They all hesitantly joined him, Ashe clinging to Dedue’s arm and Ingrid whispering loudly, “We _cannot_ just go in there!”

Unfortunately, they did just go in there. Annette’s last hope at someone with some sense stopping them… gone. They were in the cursed, extremely haunted, house.

Sylvain’s and Annette’s flashlights trailed across the large room, while the others got their phone flashlights out to try and see. It was dust, dust, and more dust, in the air and covering some leftover furniture. Leaves and trash littered the wooden floor and dirty rug. 

“We’ve got three doors and one set of stairs,” Sylvain said as he pointed at each with his flashlight. “So, split up and get exploring!” 

“What!” yelped Annette, almost tugging out of Mercedes’ grip. Sylvain turned a wicked grin on her.

“This house is huge, Annette! We’ll get nowhere if we’re all stuck together.”

“I agree. We’ll have a higher chance of finding the ghost if we split up,” Dimitri said matter-of-factly.

“Since when was that our goal!” Ashe said, still not letting go of Dedue.

“Honestly, I don’t know what else I expected,” Ingrid sighed.

They kept arguing but already they were starting to separate into groups. 

“Let’s follow Ingrid and Dimitri up the stairs,” Mercedes said, beside Annette now, but still holding onto her hoodie. “We’ve got our own goal, remember?” 

“Mercie, I don’t know why I let you talk me into these things,” Annette said as she started towards the stairs. Ingrid was still furiously arguing with Dimitri as all four of them navigated the creaking steps. Annette concentrated on the goal. She would get her wish granted and then never have to worry about her grades again. She could get into any college she wanted. She’d be able to go to Garreg Mach and find her father. She just needed to keep walking up these terribly falling apart stairs and hopefully not see a ghost and somehow find something that will grant wishes. Easy peasy. 

The first landing was horribly dark, it almost seemed like Annette’s flashlight couldn’t cut through the darkness. Ingrid and Dimitri paused, turning their smaller lights onto an open doorway. They only showed what looked like a scattered bird’s nest that sat near the entrance and basically nothing past that.

“Let’s keep going up,” Mercedes suggested.

“Yeah, the quicker we get up there, the quicker we can come down!” Annette babbled. This was a terrible idea, all of this was a terrible idea.

“Yes, I don’t think there’s anything on this floor,” Dimitri said. The way he said it made Annette shiver. Why did Dimitri want to see a ghost anyway? Did he _like_ seeing ghosts?! 

“I’m with Annette, let’s just get this over with quickly,” Ingrid said as she led the way up the next set of stairs. “Why I even came with you guys, I’ll never know.”

“You didn’t have to come,” Dimitri said simply as they both reached the next landing, shaking his head.

“Of course I had to come!” 

“I really don’t think any of us needed to come,” Annette said with a shaky smile. 

“But if we didn’t come we wouldn’t be having so much fun,” Mercedes added as she took the last stair behind Annette.

“Mercie… you’re the only one having fun here,” Annette said, patting Mercedes soberly on the shoulder as she just laughed.

“Oh! There’s one.”

Dimitri pointed somewhere behind Annette, Mercedes, and Ingrid. He seemed so calm that no one moved at first. Just casually pointing at something that’s definitely not a ghost. Annette and Ingrid turned at the same time and saw--

A ghost.

A slightly glowing white mist, barely forming the shape of a human and hair flying in a nonexistent wind, floating at the end of the hallway.

Ingrid shrieked, stumbling backwards as she desperately searched for the stairs. She was halfway down them before Dimitri was running after her, calling her name.

Annette had the exact opposite reaction.

It felt like the air had been kicked out of her, leaving no room for screaming. She forgot about the exit, about how the best way to get away from the ghost would be to get out of the house, and instead remembered the top floor. Her feet sprinted for the stairs, barely keeping the flashlight aimed forward as she ran. Annette didn’t stop until her foot fell through one of the stairs on the last staircase, knocking her down. This time she did scream, but was quickly cut off as Mercedes tumbled over top of her.

“Mercie!” Annette gasped. Mercedes had still been holding onto her hoodie that whole time?

“Annie! Annie, oh goddess, are you all right?” she said as she quickly got off Annette.

“I-I… my foot,” Annette said, unable to keep her thoughts straight. She pushed carefully off from the stairs and looked around at her foot. It had gone clean through the step, wood splinters stabbing into her leg. “Oh, oh!” Annette gasped, suddenly feeling the pain.

“Here, here, let’s slowly take it out,” Mercedes tried to say calmly, but her eyes were too wide. Mercedes grabbed Annette’s leg above where it had gone through and carefully helped her pull it back up. Annette gritted her teeth as the splinters pulled out of her leg, revealing torn jeans and blood. Slowly, both of them crept up the last few steps until they were sitting on the last landing.

“Oh, that… isn’t good,” Annette said as she watched blood seep into her sock.

“Annie, I… I’m so sorry!” Mercedes cried out as she flung her arms around Annette’s shoulders. “I should never… never had made you come h-here.” Annette could hear the tears in Mercedes’ voice. “This is all my fault!”

“Mercie… Mercie, it’s okay… If it’s anyone’s fault it’s the ghost’s,” Annette said, trying to joke as he hugged Mercedes back, though she looked quickly down the stairs in case the ghost had followed them. 

“No, it’s n-not!” Mercedes said, her head flying up to meet Annette’s, tears streaking down her usually perfect face. “I k-knew you were scared, b-but I… we hadn’t been together in-in so long. And-and you… you’ve been studying so hard I thought… m-maybe this would…” 

“Mercie, are you… are you saying you brought me to a cursed house because you missed hanging out?” Annette asked. Mercie just nodded and Annette burst out laughing. “I-I feel like there could’ve been an easier way,” Annette said through her laughter as Mercedes buried her head into Annette’s shoulder.

“I’m really so sorry, Annie,” Mercedes’ muffled voice said. Annette brushed a hand through Mercedes’ hair.

“No, I… I can’t even remember the last time we were together beside school,” Annette said softly. Mercedes’ head lifted back up and Annette wiped her tears. “I just… I have to have good grades. I have to be the best to get into the colleges I want to go to. Garreg Mach… only takes the best.”

Mercedes smiled sadly as she squeezed Annette’s shoulders, “But we’re just kids, Annie, you can still do kid stuff before we have to be adults at college. I know you can make it to Garreg Mach and still have a life outside of school.” 

Annette looked away, feeling her eyes sting. She was so used to being hard on herself, to just keep pushing herself. She couldn’t remember the last time someone told her… it was okay not to.

Mercedes’ lips pressed against Annette’s forehead. 

Annette jerked up, her cheeks hot as she searched Mercedes’ eyes. She had that same soft smile, those same bright blue eyes, and that angelic chubby face, but this Mercedes… had also just kissed Annette. And Annette… was thinking about kissing her back.

Pain stabbed through her leg, making Annette flinch. Moment ruined.

“Let me call the others, we’ll get them to help you down so you don’t have to walk,” Mercedes said, quickly catching onto what Annette was flinching about.

“Well, wait. We are at the top of the house, right? Let’s look for that holy item,” Annette said as she tried to get to her feet. Mercedes grabbed her arm and helped her up the rest of the way.

“Annie, you’re bleeding.”

“Just a bit.”

Mercedes sighed and helped Annette limp into the only room on this floor. Annette had no idea where her flashlight went, so they could only use the streetlight through the window to see. 

The room was empty.

Mercedes sighed again, “This really ended up being a terrible idea.”

“Well, since we don’t have a holy item to wish on, how about this instead?”

Annette turned towards Mercedes and kissed her on the lips.

It was quick. As quick as the first kiss was. Annette forgot to even wish, but Mercedes’ sparkling eyes wide in wonder was better than any wish she could’ve made. 

“Okay, now we can go. Please get me out of this house,” Annette said as Mercedes giggled in response. 

They shuffled back towards the stairs just in time to hear the other’s shouting for them. Ingrid had finally convinced everyone that it was time to leave and after finding out Annette had hurt herself falling through the stairs, no one else had any complaints. They helped Annette down the stairs and out of the house, which mostly consisted of Dedue carrying her. 

After the last person came through the fence, Annette felt like she could finally breathe easy. She could go the rest of her life without seeing another ghost.

“I thought I might find you here.”

Annette yelped, along with several of the others as their teacher, Byleth, suddenly appeared around the corner.

“Miss Byleth! What are you doing here!?” Sylvain said, completely dumbfounded.

“Well, I actually own this house and you weren’t exactly sneaky about your plans to come out here,” Byleth said as she walked over to them, Annette nervously watching her, wondering if this was going to be her first detention. “I thought I would check on you all and it looks like I was right to,” she finished, pointing at Annette. 

The other’s all started talking as Byleth just shook her head and smiled at them. Mercedes pulled Annette’s arm over her shoulder and put her other arm at Annette’s waist. Annette smiled gratefully as Byleth led them off of the premises. She looked back once. Something white was in the window. It almost looked like a hand reaching after them.

Annette quickly looked away and clutched at Mercedes’ hand. Mercedes started humming as they walked away from the house. Annette decided she would just have to forget she ever saw a ghost, or ever even _walked_ into a cursed house willingly. 

Annette barely concealed her groan as she realized she _couldn’t_ forget tonight. How did they manage to have their first kiss in a haunted house of all places? Was the goddess laughing up there at how funny Annette’s life was?

With a sigh Annette loosened her grip on Mercedes’ hand, but still kept hold of it. Oh, well, she would just have to deal with it.


End file.
